Dead in the Water

by Lesley A. Diehl

  Chapter 13

  “So. You found your little friend. Yes?” Sophia didn’t seem as happy to hear the kidnappers had made contact as I thought she might.

  “Yes. And she confirmed the guy who has her is working for the mob. They want half a million to free her.”

  “Did your friend say anything about my sister?’

  I shook my head. “Something wrong?”

  “Yes. They are cutting us out of the deal. Now they are making contact with you and not me as they did before. I wondered why we had not heard from them in over twenty-four hours.”

  Boris poked his head right in my face, so close I could smell garlic and something else on his breath. Fish, maybe? “These guys are smart. We told them they had to wait for the money and explained you were willing to borrow it, but they figured you needed more reason to deliver the money. So they took your friend. Our sister is irrelevant now. She is lost to us.”

  He wrapped his arms around his sister, and the two of them clung to each other. I thought I saw Boris’ eyes fill with tears, but maybe it was only the wind making them water. It was hard to tell with these two. They were so stoic. Yet I couldn’t help but feel for their plight. What Boris said about the focus of the ransom was possible.

  “We’ll stay in touch and see how this plays out. They may still want the money for your sister. These are ruthless and greedy people. I’ll bet they will make contact with you soon,” I said.

  “And then what can we do? How much money can you get your hands on? Not a million dollars,” Boris said.

  Boris was right. Nappi was generous to loan me half that, but would he be willing to go another half simply because I felt obligated to ransom Winston’s stepdaughter?

  Sophia continued to bury her head in Boris’ shoulder, but when she pulled back, his shirt was dry, as were her eyes.

  “We’ve got to get back to Sabal Bay right away. I have until tomorrow evening to get the money together,” I said.

  I punched Frida’s number into my cell and was surprised when she answered.

  “I thought I might hear from you. The answer is no. Your mob pal is not out of jail yet. His arraignment isn’t until tomorrow morning. And no. I’m not telling you what we’ve got on him.” She paused. “Something puzzles me about Winston. We were hoping to pick up numbers off his cell that we could trace to known mobsters like your friend Nappi, but there’s nothing there. How did he do business if not with his cell? I find that odd, don’t you?”

  “Hey, you’re the crime expert here.”

  “Right. I’m glad you know that so you won’t be trying to do my job for me like you did the last time you were in the proximity of a murderer.”

  I understood what she was saying: stay out of police business.

  “Something else puzzles me about this,” she said.

  Oh, oh. I held my breath.

  “Eve, why do you care so much about someone who’s likely your uncle’s killer?”

  Why indeed? How could I tell her he was supplying the money for a kidnapping that my uncle was to have paid the ransom for and that there were actually two kidnappings that I hadn’t let her in on? Did friends keep secrets from each other? Yes, if the friend was a cop and the other friend was doing something a tad illegal. My relationships with friends sure were complicated.

  I didn’t answer her question, but I did ask one of my own. “Any chance I can see Nappi before the arraignment, like later tonight?” And then I told a lie. I didn’t mean to, but it slipped out. “Maybe I can get something out of him you could use.”

  She bit. “Okay. Where are you now?”

  “I’m in Key Largo visiting Grandy. But I’m leaving in a few minutes. I should be back there around nine.”

  “I’ll leave word at the county jail that you’re allowed to visit. Call me after the two of you have talked.”

  “Right.”

  “Don’t forget. I don’t care what he says to you. I want to hear it all,” Frida said.

  I crossed my fingers. “Sure. You’ll hear it all.”

  “Before you go, Eve. Several of the women I know said your shop was closed today. Don’t you and Madeleine cover for each other? Is there something going on I should know about?”

  “What do you mean? Nothing’s going on.” I thought I sounded defensive, but I plunged ahead with my story. “Madeleine was tied up with another matter today, and I’d already arranged to see Grandy. We didn’t think one day would be a problem.”

  “The shop must be doing well. Most businesses around here need their doors open on a regular basis.”

  “Ours are open. Usually. Why are you hassling me?”

  “Why are you getting so upset?”

  “Sorry. I’ve got a lot on my mind. I suppose you’ve heard all about Winston’s estate.”

  “No, but … hold on a minute.”

  I heard her talking to someone; then she got back on the line with me. “We’ve got a call. Gotta run. We’ll talk later. Bye. Call me at home if you want.”

  I heaved a sigh of relief. Our conversation kept turning in directions that left me no choice but to make up stuff. I was becoming a great little storyteller.

  Sophia and Boris were as eager as I to settle the money problem, so they checked out of their motel while Sammy and I waited in my car. I mostly believed their story about having nothing to do with Madeleine’s kidnapping, but a tiny bubble of doubt told me I should not let them out of my sight. They seemed as anxious as I to stay in contact. I followed them off the Keys, up the turnpike, and on to their condo.

  With both parties satisfied that we knew each other’s whereabouts, Sammy and I sped back home. I dropped him at his place and headed for the county jail. All the way home I kept glancing at my phone, willing it to ring with the news that the kidnapping was a fantasy and Madeleine was safe in her bed.

  Nappi was being held in a large cell with several others. They were engaged in a lively conversation about gambling when I arrived.

  “Sorry I can’t give you more privacy.” The guard at the jail was the husband of one of my best customers at the shop. His apology sounded sincere.

  Nappi got up off the metal bench at the back of the cell, giving his fellow prisoners a congenial goodbye and telling them he’d be back soon. They seemed to understand what he meant and moved farther down the bench, increasing the distance between them and us.

  “I see you’ve made friends here,” I said.

  “Ah, Eve, you sound upset with me.”

  “Do I? I don’t mean to, but it has been a very long day.” I filled him in on Madeleine’s kidnapping and my trip to the Keys.

  “Little Madeleine? We must do something.”

  I liked that he said “we.”

  “You think the Russians have given up on Sophia and Boris’ sister and instead have taken your friend?”

  “I don’t know. Sophia awaits another call from them, but she admits it’s not very likely, now that they have me on the hook. On the other hand, maybe they think they can collect on both women.” I held my breath to see what Nappi would say about that.

  “The money is Madeleine’s lifeline, and you’re responsible for throwing it to her. This is more than living up to a promise. This is your best friend who is in danger. We’ll focus on that for the time being. Rescuing the Russian girl is not my priority right now.”

  “Time is running out. On the phone Madeleine confirmed that the guy who is holding her was hired by the mob, and they want their money by tomorrow evening.”

  “I’ll be out of here by then, but like you, I’m concerned about arranging the money transfer and obtaining the funds so quickly. You won’t mind if I ask you to do me a favor?”

  “Of course not. You’re doing me a big one. Name it. Anything.”

  “Could you call Jerry and have him work out this money thing? He can serve as my liaison.”

  Oh crap. Jerry again.

  “Sure. Great.”

  Nappi laughed. “You can’t fool me. I know h
ow you feel about him, but he’s reliable.”

  Reliable? Well, then it was a trait he recently developed, but I said nothing.

  “I feel funny asking you this, but Frida won’t say anything about you. Uh ….”

  “What evidence do they have on me?”

  “Yes.”

  “I hope you have no doubts about my innocence. You know how much I admire you and your Grandy. You are two of my favorite people.”

  “Yes, but we’re talking about my uncle here. He delivered money for a family, one probably a rival of yours.”

  “Your uncle came to me several months ago wanting to retire from the family work. It was a courageous move on his part. He heard I could be reasoned with and that I might intercede for him with his family. And then, when we found out we had you in common, well, it cemented my determination to help him out of the life. Through her connections up north, Frida found out we had been in touch. She thinks I set him up to get killed. It’s all circumstantial, and she knows it, but I think her boss wants results and fast. Don’t be angry with her. She’s a good cop doing what the job dictates.”

  “Frida said something odd to me on the phone today. She said Winston’s cell contained no numbers that were mob connected. She wondered how he did business.”

  Nappi laughed. “Oh, I can tell her how. He used a burner phone, a discard, one that’s thrown away often and replaced by another. He must have tossed his shortly before he was killed.”

  “Did he contact you by phone?”

  “We met in person to make the arrangements for his retirement.”

  “Too bad we can’t find that burner phone. Your number wouldn’t have been on there, but others would be. It might tell us something about his murder.”

  “That phone is long gone by now.”

  My shoulders slumped. The people I cared about were in trouble, and I felt helpless.

  Nappi must have noticed my sense of defeat. “Don’t worry. I called a lawyer in West Palm, one I’ve used before. I’ll be out of here and cleared by the end of the week.”

  I gave him a hard look. “How many people will you have to bribe to accomplish that?”

  He smiled. “My lawyer will see to it that I am cleared. That’s his job and not your worry. Now get in touch with Jerry, go home, and crawl into bed. You look exhausted.”

  I knew I did. Nappi, on the other hand, looked fresh and tidy, as if he’d just stepped out of the shower. How did he manage that in jail? Practice probably helped.

  As always, when I talked with Nappi I felt he was holding back something. I knew better than to ask any more questions. Much of his life was private, and it was a part I didn’t want to know about. I left the jail convinced he would come through for me, yet I had to acknowledge that this was a man I trusted where others would not. I wondered if I was being foolish.

  I had Jerry’s cell number, so I called him on my way home. He wanted to meet me there to work out details, and I agreed. I must have been so tired I’d lost my sense of reason. Another evening of Jerry.

  He waited for me on my front doorstep.

  When I walked past his car, parked on the near side of my driveway, I felt the hood. It was cool.

  “How long have you been hanging out here? Don’t you know the neighbors might call the cops and have you arrested? And it makes me look bad to have you camped on my doorstep.”

  “Grandy got in touch with me and told me everything. She thought you might need my help.”

  If Grandy reached out to Jerry, she must have been frantic about me. He was not one of her favorite people, but she felt he still had a thing for me. She probably thought he’d do anything to help me out.

  “Come on in. Let’s make this short,” I said.

  I threw my purse on the couch, and my body followed. Jerry headed for the other end of the sofa. I stretched out the length of it and pointed him to the chair across the room. “There.”

  “I’ll bet you’re tense.”

  “Of course I’m tense. My best friend is being held for half a million in ransom by a mob flunky. Why wouldn’t I be tense?”

  He waggled his eyebrows at me. “So how about ….”

  “No. No drink. No comforting hugs. No massage.”

  He waggled them again.

  “And no sex.”

  “Aw.”

  “You can leave right now.”

  “Bad idea. I think the two of us should stick together. I’m your money man, and you’re the contact. They’ll be calling you with the details for the exchange. I’ve got to go to West Palm tomorrow to arrange a money transfer with Nappi’s bank there. You come with me, and we’ll both know when the call comes through.”

  Jerry had a point, and I knew it. “What do you mean, exactly, by ‘stick together’?”

  “I stay here tonight. If they’ve got the house under surveillance, they’ll think I’m just a friend holding your hand.”

  “Fine. You sleep on the couch.”

  “C’mon. You’ve got a perfectly good guest bedroom.”

  I conceded. I was being mean not to let him used the extra bed.

  “You can use the bathroom first.”

  “Great. I’ll hop out to my car and get my duffel.”

  “You packed your overnight bag? So you expected I’d agree to your staying here?”

  “Sure, Eve. You’re a smart gal. It was the best plan.” He waggled his eyebrows at me and headed out the door.

  “Stop that thing with your eyebrows. It’s creepy.”

  That’s the last thing I remember that night. When I awoke on the couch the next morning, someone had placed a blanket over me. I sat up, checked to make certain I was fully clothed, and noticed the only item missing from my body were my boots, which lay on the floor beside the couch. I smelled coffee.

  “Rise and shine, morning glory. Here’s your java. Take a sip and hop into the shower. Your limo leaves for West Palm in fifteen minutes.” Jerry handed me a cup.

  “What time is it?”

  “Around eight.”

  “If I don’t get some decent sleep in a bed following a normal day, I’m going to age a year in a week.”

  “Nah. You look great.”

  I could tell he was lying, but I took a few gulps of coffee and dragged myself to the bathroom. A shower could only help.

  The water woke me up enough to make me realize that I had to do something about our consignment shop before I left for the coast. There was no one I trusted to take over the shop, unless ….

  “You want to stop by where?” Jerry’s face registered shock and disbelief. He almost drove off the road.

  “Sammy’s airboat business. Watch where you’re going. Should I drive?”

  Jerry made a sound in his throat that sounded like a growl.

  “What’s wrong with a stop at Sammy’s?”

  “It’s damn hard keeping up with you and all your men. You have half the cowboys in this county at your beck and call and now you’re moving in on the Miccosukee tribe. I thought Alex was the one, but this Sammy guy keeps popping up lately.”

  “It’s not Sammy I’m after today.”

  “No?”

  “I need to talk with Grandfather Egret.”

  “He know something about the kidnapping?”

  “He might, but what he knows he won’t share, at least not yet. Not until he thinks it around some.”

  “You’re beginning to talk funny. Like you’re going native. I think you could use a visit back to Connecticut when this is all over. The fumes from the traffic in Hartford will clear your head and a brief trip to Neimen Marcus should reestablish the core of your life.”

  “What’s my core?”

  “Shopping.”

  I thought about Jerry’s assessment. Maybe that was true of me a year or so ago, but I felt different now. I never shopped in fancy department stores anymore. I rarely went to a city or a mall. My life was here. I’d landed in an odd place for a city gal, but I realized I thought of it now as my home.


  “You are so wrong about me, Jerry. Here’s the drive. Pull in.”

  The chickee was abandoned, but I knew just where to find Sammy and his grandfather. I jumped out of the car, telling Jerry to wait, and ran down the path to their house. Sammy stood on the porch.

  “Heard the car, did you?”

  “No. Grandfather said about a half hour ago that he was expecting you.”

  I laughed. “Good. Then I won’t have to twist his arm. You’re back in the airboat business, and your grandfather will be learning a new trade today.”

  Sammy looked puzzled, but his grandfather came out onto the porch wearing a colorful shirt and jeans that looked so new I wanted to check to make certain the price tag had been pulled off. He clapped his cowboy hat on his head and smiled at me. “I’m ready.”

  “Wait. Where are you two off to? You’re not going to put my grandfather in danger, are you?”

  “Some danger, being surrounded by women shoppers. When they see a bargain, you better get out of the way or you could get trampled.” I wiggled my fingers in a goodbye wave.

  Grandfather headed down the path toward the parking area, a jaunty lilt to his walk.

  He carried a woven bag slung over his shoulder.

  “What’s that?” I pointed to the bag.

  “My lunch and some of my wood carvings. If we’re doing what I think we are, I thought I might entertain the ladies with my skills.”

  “You can sell them if you like.”

  “No. I’ll give them away.”

  “This will be an interesting place for you today. I’ll bet you’ve never done anything like it before.”

  “No, but I’m thinking it will be a good spot to meet women.”

  Grandfather greeted Jerry, who still looked puzzled at my behavior, though now there was an added element of annoyance in his expression.

  Grandfather introduced himself as Sammy’s grandfather and shook Jerry’s hand. He looked at me, then leaned over and whispered, “Hands are as soft as a girl’s. Doesn’t this man work?”

  “You know how we white folks are. We prefer to work with our heads.”

  “You pay big for it too. That always puzzled me.”